What is a First Cousin, Twice Removed
Appeared at Genealogy.com
Cousin (aka First Cousin)
Your first cousins are the people in your family who have two of the
same grandparents as you. In other words, they are the children of your
aunts and uncles.
Second Cousin –
Your second cousins are the people in your family who have the same
great-grandparents as, by not the same grandparents.
Third, Fourth, and Fifth Cousins
Your third cousins have the same great-great-grandparents, fourth
cousins have the same great-great-great grandparents, and so on.
Removed
When the word “removed” is used to describe a relationship, it
indicates that the two people are from different generations. You and
your first cousins are in the same generation (two generations younger
than your grandparents), so the word “removed” is NOT used to describe
your relationship.
The words “once removed” mean that there is a difference of one
generation. For example, your mother’s first cousin is your first cousin,
once removed. This is because your mother’s first cousin is one
generation younger than your grandparents and you are two generations
younger than your grandparents. This one-generation difference equals
“once removed”.
Twice removed means that there is a two-generation difference. You
are two generations younger than a first cousin of your grandmother, so
you and your grandmother’s first cousin are first cousins, twice removed.
Relationship Chart
1. Pick two people in your family and figure out which ancestor they
have in common. For example, if you chose yourself and a cousin,
you would have a grandparent in common.
2. Look at the top row of the chart and find the first person’s
relationship to the common ancestor.
3. Look at the far left column of the chart and find the second
person’s relationship to the common ancestor.
4. Determine where the row and column containing those two
relationships meet.
Common
Ancestor
Child
Child
Grandchild
Sister or
brother
Nephew or
niece
Grandchild
Nephew or
niece
First cousin
G-grandchild Grandnephew or
niece
G-gg-grandgrandchild
nephew or
niece
First cousin,
once
removed
First cousin,
twice
removed
G-grandchild G-ggrandchild
Grandg-grand
nephew or
nephew or
niece
niece
First cousin, First cousin,
once
twice
removed
removed
Second
Second
cousin
cousin once
removed
Second
Third cousin
cousin, once
removed